DISCLAIMER:
I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If I did, Elena would be with Damon and Caroline would be with Klaus. -nods- Thank you.
"You…what?" Caroline stared at Tyler (Klaus) in shock.
"I love you." he said, looking into her eyes fiercely…honestly.
"No…You can't…" she shook her head slowly, not losing eye contact.
"I do." he said quietly.
"But…" she stared at him. "You…You're Klaus! Big, bad, Original vampire who tried to kill my friends and turned Tyler into a hybrid! You can't love me!"
"But. I. Do." he said. He stood and grabbed her face. "You can't tell me honestly that you don't feel anything for me. I dare you."
"I…" she looked into his eyes-not Tyler's but Klaus'-and felt something stir within her. "I…don't…"
"You don't…?" he narrowed his eyes.
"…I don't want to." she whispered, a tear falling.
"But you do." he said quietly.
"…Yes."
Elena's eyes hardened and welled up with tears yet again as she yanked herself out of his tight grip. She sat on the couch and refused to look at him.
Damon sighed and shook his head, not knowing what to say without upsetting her more. Then, he decided he didn't care. "Elena-"
Stefan walked in. "Damon. May I speak with you?"
"…" Damon glared at his younger brother for at least half a second before nodding.
Elena didn't look up. Instead, she closed her eyes and let them walk out on her.
Damon hissed at Stefan. "What-"
Stefan punched him.
Damon froze for a second in shock, and then stood straight, wiping the corner of his mouth. "Because I wasn't beaten enough by crazy psycho Original Alaric earlier."
Stefan glared. "First, you make the love of my life fall for you. Then, you don't even TELL me when you take her out of the hospital?!"
"I figured you'd come back here! Eventually! Or, at least, the pretty little not-so-doctor-anymore would tell you." he scowled. "And what about you, huh?!" he pushed Stefan. "You don't tell me when you're Mr. Nice Stefan again. Instead, you just take her right out from under me!"
Stefan glared. "She's always been mine." he said coldly.
"No, she hasn't." he glared back. "She always thought she was yours because she met you first. But guess what? She met me first! And now, she remembers."
Stefan hissed and pulled back to punch him again, when they both tensed.
The brothers slowly turned to face Elena, who was standing in the doorway, crying and staring at them.
"Elena," Damon said hesitantly. "We-"
"Did you forget that I'm a vampire now?" she glared. "And that for once, I can hear everything you're saying about me?" she threw up her hands. "I'm not some prize you can win!"
"Elena, I know, but-" Stefan began.
"But nothing!" she scowled. "You two are brothers! You were just saying how Klaus wasn't going to get to you two, and here you are, ready to kill each other! And over what? Some fickle girl who doesn't know what she wants?" she shook her head. "Maybe if I just flip the switch, you won't have to worry about this…" she thought aloud.
"No!" Damon said, eyes widening.
"Why not?! That's what the two of you do when things get hard!" she growled.
"Okay, Elena." Stefan said slowly. "We get your point."
"What point?! She's just being an A-list bitch!" Damon glared.
Stefan gave him a pointed look as Elena rolled her eyes. He looked back at her. "We won't fight anymore. We won't flip the switch in an effort to try to get away from this. If you have to stick it out…so will we."
Damon was surprised. He looked from his brother to Elena and back again. "And you got that from her yelling at us?!"
Elena sighed. "Thank you, Stefan." she mumbled, ignoring Damon's comment.
But then, Damon had a question.
"How long are we sticking it out?"
"I…" Elena paused. "I don't know…" she shook her head. "I need to make a decision, but I can't just make it right now!"
"She's right." Stefan said, quietly.
Damon shot a glare at his brother.
"Besides, she won't be making any decisions if she dies in the next hour. We need to get her blood." Stefan looked at her. "Did…Did you want a blood bag, or…?"
"Yes." she mumbled. "I'm not drinking from a human."
Damon grumbled. "I'll go get it." smirking at her, he continued. "What do you prefer? A? B? AB? O? I'm personally an O positive kinda guy."
Elena scowled at him, but there was a hint of a smile behind it. "Anything."
Damon grinned and then left.
Stefan and Elena sat in awkward silence for a while.
"Elena…" Stefan paused.
"Wait!" she said, looking at him and realizing something. "Is Matt okay?!"
He smiled softly. "Yes. I got him out just in time."
She sighed in relief. "Good…"
"…Elena, you reminded me of your father." he said quietly.
"…" she looked down at the ground. "How?"
"When I saved you…when we met…I was going to help him. But he just kept pointing back to you." he said, watching her.
She closed her eyes. "I remember you telling me that…"
"And today, I wanted to help you, but you kept pointing to Matt." he said. "Did you know you had vampire blood in your system?"
"No." she shook her head, holding back tears. "I didn't. I'm just glad he's okay." she whispered.
"…Elena." he moved in front of her, taking her face into his palms. "Look at me."
She opened her eyes.
"You're going to be okay. Everyone is going to be okay." Stefan sounded as if he were trying to convince a man who was dying that night that he would see the sun in the morning.
"I don't know." she shook her head, sadly. "I want to think that. But…"
"But?" he asked.
"But I just keep wondering what happened to Klaus and how you're all alive."